Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover scheduling & booking. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Cal.com | SimplyBook.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $12 | From $11.90 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Covers | Scheduling & Booking, Project Management | Scheduling & Booking |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | 1 | None right now |
Open-source scheduling you can host yourself
Cal.com does what Calendly does and publishes its source, which matters to anybody who wants booking on their own domain and their own database. The individual plan is free with no meeting cap. Self-hosting is real rather than theatre, though it is a weekend rather than an afternoon.
Our note
Taking payment for calls is free here and is a paid feature almost everywhere else. That single difference is the reason most people switch.
Only on this side
Booking for a business with staff
SimplyBook.me is built for the appointment business rather than the meeting: several providers, a service list, deposits taken at the point of booking, and an app for the client. Its plans are counted in bookings a month instead of seats. That is the right unit for a studio with four staff and the wrong one for a consultant taking four calls a week.
Our note
This is the answer when a business has staff and takes deposits. For a personal booking link it is more machinery than the job needs, and Cal.com or TidyCal will be set up in ten minutes.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.